Seismic exploration employing elevated charges



March 13, 1951 T. c. POULTER SEISMIC EXPLORATION EMPLOYING ELEVATED CHARGES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1950 721 Cu In. Sar 58 4/ AAAAAAAAAAAAAE,

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SEISMIC EXPLORATION EMPLOYING ELEVATED CHARGES Filed June 3, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 f z 1 2 g3 Z4 Z5 2,0

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SEISMIC EXPLORATION EMPLOYING ELEVATED CHARGES Filed June 3, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 90 stag m 65 Q Inventor Thomas (.Poulter March 13, 1951 T. c. POULTER 2,545,380

SEISMIC EXPLORATION EMPLOYING ELEVATED CHARGES Filed June 3, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 3 Inventor Thomas C. Paul ter March 13, 1951 T. c. POULTER 3 SEISMIC EXPLORATION EMPLOYING ELEVATED CHARGES [Tn/en tor Thomas C Paulie)" Patented Mare 13, 1951 UNITED "STATES PATENT oF-Flcs SEISMIC EXPLORATION "EMPIIOYING ELEVATED CHARGES Thomas C. Poulter, Palo A1to,;Galif.,:assignor t Institute of Inventive Research, 7 San Antonio,

Tex, atrust estate" Application June 3, 1950, SerialN 0. 166,052

7 Claims.

reasonable accuracy even when such structures exist at great depths and in spite of the weathered surface layer and local pecularities of earth structure which .tendto inhibit the passage of and distortxthe wave front. For many years :the conventional manner of setting up a seismic disturbance in theearth has been to dig one or more shot holes which may be up to several hundred feet in depth for the purpose of exploding ;a charge below the weathered layer.

qPerhaps the most obviousdisadvantage of hole shooting is that shot holes have to be drilled whichis aparticularly slow and expensive process where layers of hard rock must be penetrated. In addition, heavy drill rigs and other equipment mustbebrol ht in which makes the drilling of shot holes impracticablefor example in Swampland and in remote parts of foreign countries where access ,is difiicult. Then too, the exploding of one charge frequency causes the shot hole to cave in necessitating redrilling before another shot may be fired. Even the use of an expensive casing does not prevent such caving in. More importantly, successively shots in the same ,hole often produce records which differ considerably from one another making accurate confirmatory shots impossible.

Even where steps are taken to minimize the above difi'iculties following the teachings of the prior art, good records are not consistently obtainable using a shot hole. It can be shown that most of the explosive energyis dissipated by the crushing effect upon the surrounding rock structure and the transmitted energy fans outwardly in all directions resulting in what is known as the inverse square loss. Additional energy is dissipated to increase background noise and otherwise confuse the record by reason of the hole blow which sets up spurious "highfre- ,tors as the nature of the rock structure surrounding the charge, depth-of the charge in the .2 :earth, degree of ,tamping, sizeof charge, and the like.

.As will bemore fullypointed .out;herein,- using ,a shot 'hole,regardless of ,its :depth, frequently results .in multiple reflections .between relatively shallow layers and the cart-his surface which tends to obscure useful information ,on thei p- :phone record and :to invite .misinterpretation.

While all. of .the .disadvantagesof .hole -shooting have'not been appreciated :by those skilled inzthesart, attempts have been made toalleviate :certain of them .by firing :a concentratedgcharge in .the air. (For example, the ,reissue Letters Patent LL-7,242 and Letters Patent 1,67 and .1;72&,495,. alhof which .yveresissued to;McC,ollum,

j describe the firing of a; single :charge considerably elevated above the earth. ..While thesecalled ;McGo1lum;methodwas given considerable attention at the time .the patents were issued,

, l .of energy :over .1 an extremely large. area resulting ;in =.the setting :up ofqextraneous reflections and reverberations .from regions ;.in the earth which .are not .of intere t thereby tending to confuse :the .record. .;In.;addition, the records are .very difiiculttointerpretbecauseit is not possible to determine when and where-renectedenergy ar- .riving at alparticular geophone actuall entered the ground. {The unlikelihood of securing usable records, addedto the practicalrdifiiculty of plac- :ing and firing 1 a ,charge;;in the .manner disclosed, =caused.airefiring: to be generally ,avoidedgin favor of shot hole firing during theperiod which has elapsed since issuance of ,the first .McCollum patent in v1928.

A more recent reference to the :firing @of a charge in the air for seismic .purposesappears to be the article entitled Testingthe application of air-explosions in seismic reflection-exploration by A. A. Tsvetkomappearing in the Russian periodical Applied Geophysics, in the issue of April 1, 1945. The author describestests made in-1942- inwhich single concentrated charges 15' to 20 times greater than "the charges used 1 in shot 'holes werefired inthe air at heights'of 2-to 7 feet and reflections recorded by a seismograph located at such distance that'the reflections of interest --were recorded before the arrival of air waves. Similar use has been made of a-large the earths surface.

.3 concentrated charge in this country from time to time over the past years. For example,

crews employing the shot hole method have enwhich are of interest. While firing a single con centrated charge may produce usable reflections in certain areas where results are easily obtained by more conventional methods, results are for the most part unpredictable. That is to say, there are many areas in which no reflections at all can be obtained where good records are obtainable using a conventional shot hole. example, satisfactory records are not obtainable using the Russian method in regions wherehigh velocity material, e. g. rock, extendspr'actically to the surface as on the Edwards Plateau in western Texas. As a result there has been a complete failure to adopt this procedure in'the place of shot hole firing.

With the above in mind, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for seismic exploration which employs a novel pattern of air-fired charges spaced to cooperate with one another above the surface of the earth for applying an explosion wave to the earth over a broad but well defined area, to geni erate a seismic wave therein eflilciently transmitted and which is for the most part directed straight down.

It is an object to provide a method and apparatus for seismic exploration in which the energy is-largeiy concentrated in a relatively narrow band of frequencies rather than being uselessly dissipated over a wide band or spectrum. More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide a seismic set-up which is capable of producing clear, easily interpreted records which are not confused by the presence of vibrations resulting from background noise, ground roll, spurious reflections and the like. It is another T cult to penetrate by ordinary means.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pattern of air-fired charges which is effective to set up an efficiently transmitted seismic wave but in which the size of the charge is much smaller than conventional charges and in which the energy is converted into an earthborne wave, without alteration of or damage to It is a related object to provide an improved charge array in which the charges are not only smaller and less expensive than conventional charges but are also capable of being more easily and safely handled and set up for firing.

It is an object of the invention in one of its For .the form of a composite wave front to obtain deep reflections of interest while causing the energy directed at a shallow angle to be largely self-cancelling. It is a related object of the invention to provide an improved seismic method and apparatus which substantially eliminates multiple reflections from shallow horizons.

It is still another object ofthe invention to provide an improved seismic set-up in which charges are fired-in the air but in which confusion on the record caused by the air-borne wave front,

which travels directly through the air from the charge to the recording instrument, is minimized.

It is an object of the invention in one of its aspects to provide an improved charge array which may be employed to produce a converging or focused wave front causing the explosive energy to be concentrated into a more clearly defined beam, thereby overcoming the tendency'of the energy of the wave front to be spread or dissipated.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a seismic procedure which eliminates the necessity for drilling holes for placement of charges, which enables any number of shots to be fired in quick succession at a single station to produce a succession of identical or confirmatory traces and which enables the cost per oscillograph record to be reduced'considerably below that which is incurred using conventional seismic techniques.

Other objects and advantages of the invention become apparent as the discussion proceeds, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a pattern of seven charges arranged above the earth in accordance with the present invention and equally spaced from one another.

Fig. 1a is a diagrammatic view illustrating a seismic set-up employing the present invention and showing the shot area and geophone spread.

Fig. 2 shows the manner in which the individual charges are mounted on poles above the earth. I

Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the formation of a composite wave front upon firing the pattern of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 illustrates the manner in which a generally concave composite wave front may be formed.

Fig. 5 shows the manner in which the absorption characteristics of the earth vary with amplitude of the transmitted wave for various sizes of particles.

Fig. 6 illustrates a typical deep reflection path together with multiple reflections from a shallow horizon.

Fig. '7 illustrates the cancellation and reinforcement of the energy from the individual charges.

Fig. 8 is a perspective of a star pattern.

Fig. 9 illustrates the use of a split spread.

'Fig. 10 shows a typical reflection path employing a split spread.

Fig. 11 shows a seismic set-up employing multiple geophones in a split spread.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications, I have shown in the drawings and will herein describe in detail only certain embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood, however, that I do not intend to limit the invention by such disclosure, but aim to cover all modifications and methods falling within the spirit and scope of the invention -:as :expressed IinTt'h-B appended claims.

Referring :to Figure :1, there is shown a charge array 2!] whichiconsists of a patterniofcharges laterally spaced from :one .another and elevated the same distance above the ground. For simplicity, the showing is diagrammatic andthe array will be seen to include seven charges .2I-21 which are arranged ina hexagonal pattern, each charge being equally distant from neighboring charges.

For detonating the charges .each "has a cap (see Fig. .2), the caps being connected in series for simultaneous =firing :of the charges frorna suitable currentsourcerZS.

The means preferably employed for supporting the charges above the ground is set forth in Fig.

2,-the charge 2!, for example, being mountedon a-telescoping steel pole 3B and impaled on a light wooden dowel 31 mounted at the top of .the pole.

'The dowel should be centered with respect tothe it has been found that the charges so mounted may *be fired without any damage to the pole and-without knocking it over or compressing it; as a result the same set of poles may be used over and over again and need only be lightly pressed into the earth when they are set up. It has been found that thepole offers no substantial obstruction to the passage of the supersonic explosion wave from the charge downwardly toward the ground. In order to minimizeobstruction I prefer to employ a dowel which covers only asmall fraction of the lower surface of the charge, as shown in Fig. 2.

Further inaccordance with-the present invention the charges should be arranged above the ground at such'height that the wave striking the ground is still of supersonic velocity at'the instant of impact, that is, of a velociy greaterthan the velocity of sound in air, which is a proximately 1,000 feet persecond. It willbe appreciated by one skilled inthe artthat the velocity of the shock wave leaving an explosive charge when the same is detonated in air is normally many times the velocity of sound. As the wave is propagated downwardly from the charge the velocity tends to drop, first rapidly and'thenless rapidly as th distance from the charge is increased. My observations have shown that where the charges are mountedwithout substantial obstruction to the downwardly projected wave, the supersonic nature of the wave will be retained even though the charges are positioned upto 15 feet or more above the ground. I prefer, ,however, to arrange the charge pattern between approximately 5 and approximately feet above the ground, which height may, for convenience, be referred to as pole height.

With regard to lateral spacing the charges should be sufiiciently close together so that they act cooperatively with one another to set u a seismic disturbance capable of being reflected from a submerged horizon and received ata g flphone spread. In producing this cooperative action charges are exploded imultaneously I over the shot area to ,set up a plurality of seismic waves in the earth in the regions below the respective charges, with'the leading portions of the wave fronts being in phase or in alinement,as

they start theirjourneydownwardly through-the While both the dowel and the tubing 6 earth. It can be shown that even where :rela :tively large spacing .is used the galined seismic wave .fronts tend to merge together during the course of travel :to form a compositegenerally flat wave front which has substantial directive properties. On the other ihand, the charges shouldbe suincientlyfariapart so ,thatthe composite wave front does not spread spherically in all directions .as in the case of firing a single concentrated charge, but rather has a central portion of relatively high :energy content which proceeds flatly toward a reflecting horizon. ,I prefer to employ a spacing between adjacent charges of about 210 .to about '25 feet. In many regions .it will be ,found :thatsatisfactory records can be obtained using-a spacing anywhere within the above range. .lnsomeareas it will be found more satisfactory to fireonc or twc;preliminary shots at rather widelyzdiiierentspacings within the above range, using that which gives the clearest reflections. As will :be more fully pointed out, preliminary or confirmatory shots may t reliably employed, since the nature of :the earth as aconductingmedium is not changed in any waybetween successive sghotsata given shot area. In view .of the fact thatepattern of charges can .be positioned for :firing by ,a trained crew :in a

matter .of minutes, the cost ;is exceedingly small. However, when operating inimore difficult areas and when maximumnclarity of the record is desired, the charges may be so arranged and fired as to control with considerable-accuracy the frequencyof the seismic disturbance set up in the earth, as is covered in ;detail in my copending applications, .as follows: .Ser. No. 102,821, f led July '2, 1949; Ser. No.;1,02,822,;fi1eg1 July .2, 1949; and Ser. No. 102,823, zfiledduly .2, ,19519, all of which are continuationseinpart of application Ser. 29,307, which .was tfiled May 26, 1943,

An exampleof a seismic set-upemploying the presentinvention is tobe found ,in Fig. 1a. which shows both the shot area and the geophone spread. The charge arrayshown at 2.0 is the same as that disclosed in Fig. '1. The geophone spread' lil includes i2 ormoregeophones arranged in a line and each connected .to arecordinginstrument M. Preferably each of the geophones feeds into a separate channel so that a totallof 12 to 24 traces will be produced in the recording instrument. The spacing between geophones is preferably on the orderof to feet and the spread is offset from theshot point a sufiicient distance so that all of the reflections of interest are received prior to the receipt of the directair wave. In this figure and in the remaining figures the lines connecting the charges or geophones are for the purpose of making clear the geometric relation between them and do not represent electrical wiring which has been omitted for purposes of clarity. Except forthe fact that the caps (and in a late section certain geophones) are connected in series, th wiring will be understood as conventional and as set forth in the various texts onseismic prospecting. Producing a time break, signalling the start of the seismic disturbance, is well within the capability of one skilled in the art. The start of the disturbance is of course determined by the arrival of the supersonic'wave at the earth below one of the charges and any appropriate wavesensitive device may be used for making the necessary indication on the seismogram.

The manner in whichthecomposite wave front is, formed inthe earthmay be more readily vis- 'iialized upon reference to Fig. 3'. As mentioned above, each of the charges 2l-25 in the pattern is at such height as to apply a wave of supersonic velocity, i. e., a shock wave, to the earth. Assuming that relatively concentrated charges are used, each shock wave is of greatest intensity over an area of the earth immediately surrounding the charge. The existence of a wave of supersonic velocity will be assured, assuming that each charge is mounted as described and within the range of elevation set forth above. Upon striking th earth the shock wave front is converted into a seismic wave front, the wave fronts being indicated at Zia-45a. These wave fronts are compressional in nature and are propagated downwardly at a velocity which is characteristic of the earth, being on the order of 8,000 to 12,000 feet per second in a dense medium and on the order of 2,000 to 6,000 feet per second where the surface layer is porous and heavily weathered.

The variation in intensity in the wave front in Fig. 3 is roughly proportional to the denseness of the stippling. Although the Wave fronts 2| a25a are separate at the time that they are set up in the earth, the fact that all of the charges are fired at the same time causes them to be substantially in horizontal alinement, that is to say, in step with another in the downward direction.

It is naturally somewhat difficult to describe accurately th transformation of the alined wave fronts 2|a.25a as they proceed downwardly through the earth. It is, however, indicated from the observations which I have made and from the nature of th records which have been obtained that the wave fronts keep in step with one another and appear to form a unitary disturbance which can be described by the term composite seismic wave front. It would seem that the individual wave fronts spread out laterally to at least a limited degree so that they practically touch one another as indicated at 2 lb25b. Observations indicate that as the wave fronts progress more deeply into th ground the openings between the wave fronts tend to fill in rather completely, producing a merged wave front indicated generally at s5 and having sections 2lc 250. This wave front has no sharp discontinuity at the periphery, neither does it fan out in all directions. Instead, the energy is concentrated for th most part into a slightly divergent beam which has a substantial amount of directivity. After reflection from a submerged reflecting horizon the wave front rebounds toward the geophone spread 46. Provided that the submerged horizon is substantially horizontal, the reflected wave front will strike all of the geophones either at the same time or in rapid succession to produce an alinement on the record. Wher substantial amounts of dip are present there will be a characteristic stepout between the adjacent geophone traces.

If desired, to reduce somewhat the amount of fringing or dispersion of the energy in the wave front, the center charge of the pattern indicated at 23 in Figs. 1 and 3 may be elevated slightly above the height of the remainder of the charges to the position 23. This causes the airborne wave front from the central charge to be elevated a corresponding amount relative to the remainder of the individual wave fronts and tends to produce a slightly concave or focused seismic wave front as indicated at 45a in Fig. 4. The degree of elevation of the central charge under such circumstances is not critical and may be readily determined by one skilled in the art based upon I tively flat.

knowledge of the velocity of the wave in the air and in the ground, the depth of the concavity being equal to the velocity of the seismic wave multiplied by the delay time. If desired the concav ity may be confirmed by employing a pattern of geophones or pressure detectors buried below the charges, with arrival of the wave fronts at each detector recorded by any suitable high speed recording apparatus. As an alternative procedure the height of the charge 23 may be varied slightly between several successive shots taken for the same location of shot area and geophones and the most favorable record selected from the group.

While Fig. 4 serves to illustrate one of the rather unique possibilities of the method, it is a refinement which will not be found necessary in normal field use. Arranging charges at the same height and firing them simultaneously has the advantage of extreme simplicity and has been the procedure normally employed to obtain results even in difficult no record areas. An important thing to observe in both Figs. 3 and 4 is that the composite seismic wave front is rela- Under normal conditions with average weathering it has been determined by actual measurement that there is substantial directivity or beaming brought about by my charge arrangement, as much as percent of the energy in the earth being included within a cone of less than degrees. Where there is very little weathering and high velocity material extends practically to the surface, the directivity is even greater, 85 percent of the seismic energy being included within a cone of 30 degrees centered below the charge pattern.

Studies have been made in an endeavor to determine the reason for the efficient transmission of the explosive energy to the earth and the reasons which enable the seismic wave to be effectively projected to great depths and reflected to the geophone spread. One of the important factors in the success of the present procedures is believed to be the relatively low level of intensity at which the seismic wave is generated in the surface of the earth. It will be recalled that common practice requires the drilling of shot holes varying in depth from 30 to about 300 feet in order that the charge might be exploded below the loose weathered layer. This practice has been dictated by experience, since the setting off of charges in the weathered layer ordinarily results in much poorer records than Where deep shot holes are used. This is also true where charges are fired in contact with the surface of the earth or in very shallow holes or trenches. By Way of contrast, the present invention utilizes a plurality of charges fired well above the surface. The explosive energy thus starts on its journey under very difierent circumstances. Observations indicate that the energy of the blast is absorbed and transmitted elastically by the air. In addition, the wave spreads out more or less spherically in the air as it proceeds in the direction of the ground so that the intensity is reduced below the level which causes crushing of earth structure. Although the energy level is low, the supersonic wave strikes the ground over a relatively large circular area under the charge over which the intensity is reasonably constant. Using charges within the range of one ounce to ten pounds or more elevated above the ground at pole height, it is found that the energy level is sufiiciently low so that there is no destruction at the surface and very little damage to the plant life, even directly under the charges.

asrs sso Efiicient transmissidm of the selsm'itr wave set up at thesurtaca is believed due to theliact that the procedures: disclosed herein inherently make valuable use of: certain transmi'ssion properties of the granular materials of which'th'e weathered layer is COIliIiOSGdi confirmatorystudies have indicated that the energy absorption by granules of various sizes is: not the same and that the degree of absorptiondni theearth varies in a rather unique way with the amplitude or intensity' of the seismic" wave being transmitted. Fig. 'sho'ws' two typical absorptiori curves'ap'pli cable to" frequencies normallyeiicounteredin seismic work,- the curve'tli beihg applicable tosand and the curve' 5 being'tapplicable-to coarse gravel. It will be note'd in this figure: thatcohsiderable absorption of seismic energy occursover a wide range of amplitude and it isonly'at very low amplitudes that absorption is lowso that transmission of: theseismic wave takes place efiiciently. Since the curves are offsetf-r'om -one another the net or over-allcharacteristic for such amixture as the weathered layer will be approximately the envelop of a family of such curves, the effect being to further broaden I the range of: amplitude at which absorption is excessive.

l 'he above bec'oniesr significant when it is' recalled that previous attempts to" penetrate the poorly transmitting layers: have: dependedpriniarily' upon brute force: and it i is generally ob served thatthe use of larger hole-charges results in: recordswhich i areslightly improved'i In accordance with-the present-invention; andbyway of contrast, e-fliciency of transmission has been obtained by. decreasing.- andnot-increasing the amplitude of the seismic pulseappliedtothe earth at theshot-point- Transmission thus' takes place in the fiat-left-ha'nct region of the curve where transmission is much favorable. Note, however, that employing a low" energy leveldoe's notreduce the amount of" use'fu l'shock wave energy imparted to the earth. 'Ilfief'increased area acted upon by" the charges 21-21 acting in conce'rt is sufficiently great so asto" more th-a'n make up for the decrease in amplitudeandthe amount of total energy put intb'th'e earth is therefore high. As arough*measuraoisuch energy-it has been found that earthisa'cte'd upon over the area ofthe pattern-bra forcein exc'ess of 11000; 060 pounds for each pound or explosive employed.

Fiirther studies have been made inorder-'- to confirm the importaric'e of' using a; plurality of laterally spaced charges to deliver an' in'i pact to the earth which is' of supersonicvelocity. It can be demonstrated-that theefficiency of. conversion of an airborne wave to amora-d'ense medium'is a direct function net only of i the velocity oithe wave in theair" but a1so=ofthe density of the air. It has already been statedthat' the velocity of the supersonic wave ispreferably severaltimes that of: a sound wave which-, of itselfltends to produce -efficientenergy conversion; Itis not so generally appreciated-that theair in a-shock wave front is highly compressed and. has a much'hig-her density than air at atmospheric pressure. The

result is a disproportionate increase in conver- Having efficiently penetrated the weathered layer, the seismic wavefront has successfully passed the firstand mostdifiicult-hurdle. The wave retains sufficien't energyt'oenable it to penetrate to great depths'and' to persist' at reliable recording intensities until the surface of the earth isreache'dat' the end of the reflection path. sand or gravel layers either at considerable depths or weathered layers at the point of recept-ion do not constitute" as much of a barrier as weatheredlayers at the shot area, since the intensity ofthe seismic'wa've is by this time well below the range" at which excessive absorption takes place".

It Will be clear from the abovethat the use or the: present' charg'e: arrays enables a maximum of explosive energy't'o beavailable at the geophones for" the tracing of useful records; My studies haveshown that'therc are a number of other advantages which are less obvious but nonetheless importantand whi'ch are due to the use of Separate charges in the shot pattern. Prior'to' discussing. such additional advantages, it will be'well to keepin mind that it is really the signal-tonoise ratioand the 'fr'eedom from spurious reflection' which is of primary importance in thep'roduction of clear and easily interpreted seismic records. Most of the-'so ca'lled no record areas areso considered not b'ecause' the seismic signal is attenuatedvery'rapidly but rather because the .signal-to noise' ratio is unfavorable. The two features of the improved 'charge array which contribute to the'readability"of the records will, for the-"sake of simplicity, beconsidered as separate although-it will be'understood by one skilled in the art that the elTectsa-re closely related. They have todo first with the energy distribution in the seismic wavefront, and secondiy with the self-caricellin'g effect which occurs in connection with iatersiiydireeted" energy and especially the shallow reflections produced thereby.

With regard to distribution of" energy, reference is made to Fig; 6 in which the charge patnemesis shownon a much reduced scale. The directivityofthe seismic energy is indicated in thisfigur'e" by the"fc'on'e of maximum intensity indicated by the dotted lines at 55. Assuming that the high velocity medium extends close to the surface, such cone will include percent of the seismic energy within a conical angle of 30 degrees. The intensity varies within the cone, beinglargely'concentrated within the central 20 degrees. and particularly along the vertical axis. Thehigh degree ofconcentration along the axis of the pattern is due-in part'to the factthat the seismic disturbance is set up by fluid pressure which can act only at-right angles to the surface of the ground, that is to say, straight down.

The path of the main reflection is indicated a't 56 and lies wellwithin the maximum energy cone. After striking. the submerged horizon 45, reflection occurs along the return path 51 leading to the geophone spread. Some seismic energy will, of' co'ur'se, be directedofi at an angle as indicated-atfifl, andwill'be reflected from a shallow horizon 61 (which may, for example, be only 850' feet or so in depth) and returned to the geophone along a path 62. Such energy in suchpath will be at a very low level since the path lies outside of the maximumenergy cone. Still other seismic energy. will be directed along the path- 64 andwillsuffer an additional reflection at thesurface of the earth 65 before arriving at the geophone spread over a path 66. In-short, all shallow" reflections; not of interest, and whether single or multiple, will inherently arrive at the geophone spread at a low amplitude.

This brings us to the second factor which substantially contributes to the low level of the extraneous vibrations, namely the self-cancelling or pulse. Consequently it is possible to diagrammatically represent the seismic disturbance resulting from each of the charges by individual time-pressure curves. This has been done in Fig. 7. If we first focus attention on the, region directly below the charge pattern it will be seen that all the time-pressure curves are in phase with one another as indicated at 61. For the sake of simplicity only 5 of the curves have been shown. Since the pressure is in phase and since the selected position is at the center of the intensity cone, it is apparent that the resultant pressure may be of relatively high amplitude. However, if we consider the energy which is projected more or less laterally from the same shot, the curves, indicated at 68, are no longer in phase but tend to cancel one another out to a large extent. If we direct our attention to a still shallower, angle, the pressure-time curves, as indicated at 69, are out of phase to an even greater degree and there is substantially complete cancellation. It will therefore be apparent that the shallow reflections produced by the laterally directed energy, as well as the seismic waves which pass through the surface of the earth directly from shot point to geophone without reflection, will be at a very low level.

To summarize our observations in Figs. 6 and '7 it will be apparent that a composite wave front of high intensity is projected straight down to produce reflections from the deeper horizons of interest. The seismic disturbances which proceed laterally away from the shot point and which cause the multiple shallow reflections and background noise on the other hand, are not in the form of composite wave fronts since the waves set up by the individual charges are out of time phase. Furthermore, such laterally directed energy is at a very low intensity since it proceeds in a direction which makes a relatively small angle with the surface of the earth while the fluid pressure from the explosion can only act perpendicularly to the surface.

In order to enhance the cancellation effect, I found it advisable to orient the charge pattern so that the charges thereof are located at a maximum number of different distances from the geophone spread. Thus, it will be apparent that with the hexagonal pattern with one corner directed toward the geophone spread, the charges will be eifectively located at five different distances, the only alinement occurring between charges 22, 2! and 24, 28. If desired, further improvement may be secured by rotating the pattern a slight additional amount so that the 7 charges are each located at a difierent distance.

If desired, furtherimprovement may be secured by using a star pattern of 13 charges rather than the hexagonal pattern of 7. Such a pattern is shown in Fig. 8, the charges being designated II-83. When employing a star pattern, the effect is almost exactly the same as discussed. in conmotion with Fig. 3, except that a composite wave front will consist of a correspondingly larger number of individually formed wave fronts. A star pattern will normally cover a broader pattern and may use a greater total amount of explosive. However, in regions where reflections are more readily obtained, the amount of explosive can be reduced in each charge so that the total remains the same. It will be apparent that the cancellation effect described above is greater using a larger number of charges, and the star pattern may be oriented so that the charges are at a total of 13 difierent distances away from the geophone spread. The disadvantage of using a more involved pattern is that additional time is required in setting up a shot. While patterns of 7 and 13 charges are preferred it will be apparent to one skilled in this art that the invention is not so limited but will include other patterns employing a plurality of charges within approximately the range of elevation specified and where they cooperate in the novel fashion herein disclosed.

Embodiment employing split spread The invention has been discussed above both generally and in connection with an offset spread in which the geophones are located at some distance, for example a half mile or more, from the shot point. My studies have shown that while this arrangement produces satisfactory records in normal areas, greatly improved results may be obtained in more difiicult areas by using geophones located in the immediate vicinity of the shot point so that the air wave is received and the effect thereof dissipated prior to the arrival of the reflections of interest. Referring to Fig. 9 a seismic set-up is disclosed in which the charge pattern indicated at 89 is in the middle of a split spread 90. Such spread may consist of a total of 12 or more geophone receiving stations 91-402, inclusive, which are spaced to feet apart. Each of the receiving stations feeds into one channel of a recording instrument I63 so that a total of 12 or more traces are produced. I have found that improved results are secured with this arrangement on the Edwards plateau in Texas, and also in southern Florida where it has been previously considered impossible to use reflection seismic techniques successfully. The reason for the improved results in such difiicult areas is believed due to the fact that the high velocity material extends practically to the surface of the earth thereby producing a cone of maximum in-. tensity which is considerably narrower and more well defined than that which is observed in areas of greater weathering. Reference is made to Fig. 10, which is on a scale similar to that of Fig. 6, and in which the cone of intensity is indicated at I05. Upon firing of the charge pattern the energy is directed or beamed along a path H0 and is directly reflected from a deep horizon IH into the region of the shot. Consequently energy is picked up at the geophone spread 90 at a relatively high level whereas the energy at an offset point, for example a half mile or more away, is at a considerably lower level. As a result records are obtained at the spread 90 which are unobtainable using a conventio-nal shot hole and which may also be unobtainable employing an air-fired charge pattern with ofiset spread.

It might be expected that where the geophones r3 are located so" ciose to tha shotpoint the'z entire record would be obscured by the direct impact of the air wave on such geophonea- It is; found; however,- that he air' wa ve disturbance is only minorand'itha its effectsa're notllasting permit ti'ng the reception of. relativelyrshallow usable reflections. The reason for. this 1 is :believed two fold. In the: first place, where a splitspre'adf is used the total charge may be extremely small;

on theorder o't 2 'pounds. Sincethis total is-split up';. this amounts. to only about 5' ounces per charge. A factor causing still" further reduction in the intensityi of theair Wave is: that; thewcon'i' pression waves: fron r' the individual charges;- and which proceed parallel to the 1 ground, arrive: at a=- given ge'ophone: out oi time 1 phase and' conse queritly tend 1 to neutralize or cancel: one another. The transientdisturbanceis :theref ore quiteminor and: does not tend i to persist after the final wave front-inthe'air wave-has'been received. Specii-- ieally; my observations-have shown that the effect of the: direct air Wave does not interfere with reflections" atgreater thamabout .DEr-ofa second beyond the timethatthe direct air'wave passes the last geophone: corresponding in general-man eiapsed-timeotOfl second to 0.8 secondon the record-w Mostusefulreflections do not arrive until-much later.

Em'bodimiifemployifig multiple geopvzo'nes Iii certain especiaiiy difficult areaswhich have refused- 1:0 yield' usful-records by'ordinary-seismic means; a nioclifiedseismic -set*'-up may beusefuliy employed along the lines illustrated in Fig-511 The arrangement-' is generally" similar to that shownin Fig; 9, except that each of? the receiving station's; here indicated as-:9 la'--|o2a;is formed of muiti plegeophones arranged in line at right ah'gldsto the 'directiori or 'th'e sl'iot poihti It die sired, 9 geophones'maybeused in eadliilih'e connect'ed'in aseries parallel combiriation consisting of 3 g-rrriups or 3; Individual'geophcnesare spaced from approximately 6' to approximately feet from one another; For-ease inpl'acernent, such g'ee rieriesmaybeor the lightweight-type having an-integral spih for 'anchoring thein ttitheiea rth and put' iiito pesiticrixmereiy pressingiwithithe foot and with'out the necessity f'o'r digging aflhole'; Each stationo'fi gecphones thus: connected feeds into a single channel in the recording instrument so thatthe re'suiting: trace: representsanz average over a distance-oi approximately 90 feet.

It is believed that the'success of this" arrange meht-in' d ifficult areasis due to the factthat there' may be a great variation" in velocity at a the imrnediatesurface; especially'where the thigh velocityrock structure at the surface is 'brokenup or dis-joiiited,-as is the' case on the Edwardsplateau; Where* the: disjointed pieces on rock: are. largest appears that energy is not: transmitted to the geophones' at rig-ht angles-1th the'e'arth, but tends to renew the veins" of: high velocity medium, for examplelimestone; through a rather" tortuous path. The" energy-is" transmitted with difficulty across the discontinuities; at the breaks: in:- the it limestohe'.- This. results in an. appreciable: d if ference path distances ion energy arriving: at tvvt) "adjacent geophohes. Tests ha've shown that adj acen-tigeophones locatedas close as 6 feet may produce a differentindicati'orrof depth because oi" the unlike transit time By using; a large humber' of geophones, foreXa-mple; 9 spaced on the order of 10 feet apart',a:satisfactory'averaging eflect i's' i achieved,-- and the resulting trace is-substantially the same as: it the seismic wave had 14 been transr'nittedthrough a homogeneous me dium'.

One of theadditionaladvantages' in using the multiple geophoneset-up shown in :Fig. lllis' that anyftendencytoward raise reflections as a" result of air echo is substantially eliminated Evenwhere such ech'cesdc o'c'cui 'they are usually very easily spotted because of the EXCESSiV' stepo'utbetween the traces. It will be apparent that where multiple geopho'rie's are used at eachrecei 'ngstatiori, any echo-will arrive at the'success-Ivegecphones outof phase. and the effectwill therefore be averaged outa'nd willnot berecorded at ail.

The improved results to" be obtained using a pattern of charges inith'e manner describedabove have been verified byextensive field usage and the phenomena associated therewith such-as reduction in backgroundnoise,- and reductionin sprious'and multiple reflec'tions may he explained along thelines already suggested. Continuing studies indicate, however, that there are still additional reasons for the: improved result; In thepreceding discussion mention was made 0fthe difficulties involved: in obtaining consistent records in areas such as the Edwards plateau where broken high velocity material such as limestone extends practically to the surface' of the earth It is believed that the present charge array makes'use'of' a novelaveragin'g effect for projecting a relatively fiat seismic wave through brokenhigh' velocity material. It carrbe shown; as indicated above, thatv the transmission charai'cteri'stic's" may be quite: widely different at: 2

a points: on the'earthz-which are separated asiittie as 7 tow feet, thatthe s'eismicwaves terminating orlbeginning inlsuch points may follow paths which are of such diiier-ent length that the seismic waves are thrown out of phase It is clear; thereforetha't Whenever" explosive energy originates atia single point the-record which is obtained may beconside'rably diiierent from that which originates at-a point a relatively short distance removed; Using the procedures outlined hereinthe charge pattern covers a considerable areaandthe seismic wavecannot therefore follow a; high: velocity path or a low velocity path exclusively. Instead; the transfer of explosive ener'gyto theearth takes place-over anaverage' pa'th a'ndl error dueto ineorrect plac'ement of the shot point aresubstantially eliminated. Since: an accurate'averagevelocity, determined by experiment, isused' in the depth calculations; over-all accuracy in" determination: of the depth: of refiected horizons by the use of presentprocedures isassured.

Whilethe area=ooveredbythe charge pattern may be quite-broad; on the' order of 209 to 300 feet in diameter, nevertheless such area is well definedas compared to: the" areas acted upon by the seismi'c waves when using priorseismic techn-iques. Theenerg-yis sufficiently concentrated into a bearn'sothat the wave may he directed to a relatively small sectionoi-a-submergedhorizon. Thus; accurate data may be. separately obtained on either of two offset portions of a faulted stra tum anddetailed logging ispossihle.

It Willbe apparent trom thefor-cgoing that the present charge array and manner of use enables the obtaining of seismic records with great economy even-indifZicultar-eas where the use of more conventional arrangements. is unsatisfactory or impractica -1 Theel'iminaticn of shot holes is of particularadvantage in parts of the country or in remote sections offoreign countries where the shot point is difficult of access or where the shot hole must penetrate layers of hard rock. The saving of time is even greater than might be supposed since redrilling after-firing a shot is unnecessary. By way of contrast a large numberof shots may be made at a given shot point using the present procedures without damage to the earth and with only insignificant damage to vegetation. Even the poles are unaffected and do not have to be set up between shots. Where the land is owned by others it is frequently necessary to pay large fees for the privilege of seismic shooting primarily to compensate the owner for damage done by transporting and installing heavy drill rigs. the part of the land owner are eliminated and the fee is substantially reduced.

In spite of the fact that the charges are exploded in the air, the use of the present array is safe for both'personnel and surrounding structures of masonry or the like. As regards personnel, there is an absence of any flying missiles since the charge is completely disintegrated and the supporting poles are not affected. Since low frequency ground roll is minimized, there is no danger of cracking foundations, watering tanks, and the like, or of damaging water wells. Due to the small amount of energy imparted to each unit of surface the present procedures are adaptable to water covered areas. During recent years extensive surveys have been made in coastal waters and oil-shore oil fields are becoming increasingly important. The detonation of charges above the water has the advantage that fish and other underwater life having large commercial value are not harmed in any way.

The procedures outlined herein are also eminently suited for taking measurements of the depth of snow and ice layersor in obtaining geological information where there isan overburden of snow to a depth of several hundred feet. In the Antarctic it was found that large charges buried in the snow were practically useless for obtaining good reflections both because the energy is absorbed by the crushing of snow and ice, and even more importantly by the fact that the snow serves as an extremely effective condenser Using the present array objections on distance that the seismic waves resulting from the supersonic waves form a composite seismic wave front upon passage through the earth, exploding said charges simultaneously to project said composite wave toward a reflecting horizon, and detecting the seismic wave after reflection of the same from said horizon. 2. Seismic apparatus for geophysical prospecting which comprises in combination a plurality of explosive charges, means for supporting the charges elevated above the ground and spaced from one another over a shot area with the charges being free of substantial obstruction to the passage of a supersonic wave downwardly from each of them, said charges being so elevated from the ground that the waves from the charges are still of supersonic velocity when they strike the ground, means for firing the charges so that said waves strike the ground substantially simultaneously for the setting up of generally alined seismic waves under the respective charges, means including geophones for detecting the resulting seismic wave after reflection from a submerged horizon, said charges being distributed over the shot area in a two dimensional pattern.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which the charge supporting means for each of the charges includes a metallic pole having an exfor the hot gases resulting from the explosion.

Using present techniques, soundings have been made through deep snow to basement rock using charges weighing only a few ounces.

In the following claims the term laterally spaced charges will be understood to mean charges horizontally spaced from one another so that they can act cooperatively in setting up a seismic disturbance. It will be further understood that the step of detecting includes within its scope the picking up of the seismic impulse by means of geophones or the like and amplifying and recording it in the conventional manner.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending applications Ser. 29,307 filed May 26, 1948, and Ser. 102,823 filed July 2, 1949,

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of seismic exploration which includes the steps of supporting a plurality of charges above the surface of the ground laterally spaced from one another to define an area and at substantially the same height, each of said charges being free of substantial obstruction to the passage of a supersonic wave downwardly therefrom, said charges being located at such height as to apply supersonic waves to the ground below the respective charges and said. charges being laterally spaced from one another at such pendable tip engaging the associated charge and centrally alined therewith.

fl. Seismic apparatus for geophysical prospecting which comprises in combination a plurality of explosive charges, means for supporting the charges elevated above the ground and spaced from one another over a shot area with the charges being free of substantial obstruction to the passage of a supersonic wave downwardly from each of them, said charges being so elevated from the ground that the waves from the charges are still of supersonic velocity when they strike the ground, means for firing the charges so that said waves strike the ground substantially simultaneously for the setting up of generally alined seismic waves under the respective charges, means including geophones for detecting the resulting seismic wave after reflection from a submerged horizon, said charges being arranged in a two dimensional pattern in which each of the charges is spaced at substantially the same distance from its neighboring charges.

5. Seismic apparatus for geophysical prospecting which comprises in combination a plurality of explosive charges, means for supporting the charges elevated from above the ground and spaced from one another over a shot area with the charges being free of substantial obstruction to the passage of a supersonic wave downwardly from each of them, said charges being so elevated from the ground that the waves from the charges are still of supersonic velocity when they strike the ground, means for firing the charges so that said waves strike the ground substantially simultaneously for the setting up of generally alined seismic waves under the respective charges, means including geophones for detecting the resulting seismic wave after reflection from a submerged horizon, said charges being arranged in a hexagonal pattern with equal distance between adjacent charges throughout the pattern.

6. Seismic apparatus for geophysical prospecting which comprises in combination a plurality of explosive charges, means for supporting the charges elevated above the ground and spaced from one another over a shot area with the charges being free of substantial obstruction to the passageof a supersonic wave downwardly from each of them, said charges being so elevated from the ground that the waves from the charges are still of supersonic velocity when they strike the ground, means for firing the charges so that said waves strike the ground substantially simultaneously for the setting up of generally alined seismic waves under the respective charges, a geophone spread having laterally spaced geophones distributed in alinement in opposite sides of the shot area and extending outwardly from a position immediately adjacent thereto, and means for recording the signals from the respective geophones.

7. Seismic apparatus for geophysical prospecting which comprises in combination a plurality of explosive charges, means for supporting the charges elevated above the ground and spaced from one another over a shot area with the charges being free of substantial obstruction to the passage or" a supersonic wave downwardly from each of them, said charges being so elevated from the ground that the waves from the charges are still of supersonic velocity when they strike the ground, means for firing the charges so that said waves strike the ground substantially simultaneously for the setting up of generally alined seismic waves under the respective charges, a geophone spread having geophones ar- 18 ranged in spaced groups in alinement on opposite sides of the shot area and extending outwardly from a position immediately adjacent said shot area, and means for recording the signals from the respective groups.

THOMAS C. POULTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Tsvetaev, An Experiment of Application of Air Explosives. Article in Applied Physics, U. S. S. R., April 1, 1945, pages 82-87. 

